How long before 35k SR gets pulled?

[xanatos]

Since it's already become an off menu item, is it only a matter of time before it gets dropped completely (due to "low demand" or otherwise)?

Or will they keep it available just so they can say we do indeed have a 35k M3?

I am thinking of ordering one for parents, but they don't need it until mid June, so I'm debating whether to wait and risk it suddenly getting axed, or order now and end up making payments for a car that nobody is driving for 2 months.

 

[BluestarE3]

I don't think they can continue to sell a software-limited car for long and have it be financially viable. After they've satisfied the existing backlog of SR orders and some limited number of new "off-menu" orders, they'll probably pull it due to "lack of demand". Model S 40 redux.

 

[Tam]

...Or will they keep it available just so they can say we do indeed have a 35k M3?

I am thinking of ordering one for parents, but they don't need it until mid June, so I'm debating whether to wait and risk it suddenly getting axed, or order now and end up making payments for a car that nobody is driving for 2 months.

There have been many dizzying changes in prices and options just these few weeks.

Out of sight out of mind: Take it off the visibility is among the best way to kill it off.

Would anyone think to keep it off the website in order to promote that people can remember that there's still $35,000 option around?

 

[boaterva]

Why pull it at all if all it takes to ‘offer’ it is a software mod? It was one thing when it needed hardware changes and that’s what got the ‘real’ SR killed. So now anyone that really wants an SR (or a Tesla without AP, lol) can have one. Costs them zero to offer it.

 

[ammulder]

Why pull it at all if all it takes to ‘offer’ it is a software mod?

Because if the only difference is a software mod, they're just earning $4500 less on every one they sell. Yet the SR is presumably the lowest-margin model they sell, and the cost of production, delivery, and warranty repairs is the same as the SR+. How long will they have an appetite for trimming that much off the margin on those sales?

 

[OCR1]

I predict that the SR will go away when HW3 begins formally shipping on Model 3s.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I don't think they can continue to sell a software-limited car for long and have it be financially viable. After they've satisfied the existing backlog of SR orders and some limited number of new "off-menu" orders, they'll probably pull it due to "lack of demand". Model S 40 redux.

Not an S40 redux. The S40 had low demand,, using old cells, and the S85 and S60 had demand that took up all of their limited production capacity.

Removal of the Model 3 SR- is a production cost problem.

 

[boaterva]

I predict that the SR will go away when HW3 begins formally shipping on Model 3s.

Why do you think it isn’t now? Do we know it isn’t?

 

[banned-66611]

They will keep it around. It's a compliance car, they need it to comply with their £35k promise.

Also by making it off-menu it gives them an opportunity to pressure-sell you into a more expensive model. I imagine the actual number they are selling is very small.

 

[OCR1]

Why do you think it isn’t now? Do we know it isn’t?

They have not formally announced it yet and they still have a lot of existing inventory to clear out. I think Elon will make a big announcement after the investor demo that HW3 is shipping, and in all of the excitement of the announcement he will quietly mention that SR sales are below expectations so they will be eliminating it from the lineup.

 

[67King]

Wasn't the SR decontented with more than just software (range)? Wasn't the interior a bit spartan, as well? Cloth, manual seats for example?

At any rate, the SR is probably the same thing as the dealers who advertise their "$19,995" models that are there to attract customers who option their cars a little mroe once they are in there looking at things.

 

[cpgbenso]

My guess is the SR will be gone at the end of the quarter at the latest. They may use the HW3 as an excuse to kill it, but in the end I can't blame them. They are a business after all and need to stay profitable. They came very close to the $35k target with the SR+, and IMHO it's 'close enough' and my feelings won't be hurt if they drop it.

 

[Lasairfion]

I think there could be a chance that we'd see the SR model shipped from China once GigaFactory 3 is churning out Model 3s. It makes much more sense to wait until a lot of cost intensive stages for the business are done with, and it's much easier to put together a new line with some new components (ie interior) from scratch rather than interrupting lines with demand still attached.

Not to mention potential lower costs over there for labour and perhaps also battery cells. I think they'd have a much higher margin on the SR; not have to cut costs elsewhere and it'd all negate the added shipping costs from China. Of course it depends on Tariffs.

 

[Reeler]

I think the $35K version will become the one made in China. As VW and others push their price point to $30K and below in the next year or two, China production will allow competing with those new models.

FWIW, the new VW I.D. sedan based on the MEB platform at $30K looks like a real alternative to the Model 3. The mature manufacturers will finally be providing real competition next year.

A $30K Model 3 with steel roof, steel rims, cloth interior, manual seats, etc. would pull in a bunch of other buyers for Tesla.

 

[xanatos]

If they do pull it, do you guys think they will at least give us a heads up first so people who want it can still get their orders in?
Or will it be like recently where they just suddenly announce a change and by the time we see it, the entire ordering system has already been updated? Because it really sucks when they just do things and then tell us after the fact...

 

[OCR1]

Something tells me that if Tesla threatens to move production of their vehicles to China and the export them back to the US for North American customers, our current administration will have something to say about it.

 

[Knightshade]

Wasn't the SR decontented with more than just software (range)? Wasn't the interior a bit spartan, as well? Cloth, manual seats for example?.

Intended to be? Yes.

Ever was? Nope.

The SR turns out to be an SR+ with some software disablement of a few things.

 

[BMWM3toTM3]

The current SR with the premium interior and software lock is an incredible deal. I think it was just made to keep customers happy for those who believe they were promised a 35k car. They got a hell of a lot more than they bargained for though! Same with SR+ buyers. I do feel for the original LR RWD buyers who spent more than a current P3D. I predict the current SR will be gone in a month, don't think it's sustainable for Tesla to take a hit in profit and it would have been ample amount of time for those who wanted the car to place the order.

 

[Reeler]

Something tells me that if Tesla threatens to move production of their vehicles to China and the export them back to the US for North American customers, our current administration will have something to say about it.

I don't think they will pull production of the Model 3, but Tesla has already said the new Gigafactory will make them. As the competition heats up, they will be forced to compete with other foreign manufacturers by using the cheapo Model 3s to satisfy demand in the US and elsewhere. Nothing is getting moved as the high-end Model 3s will be produced here.

 

[VQTRVA]

They will keep it around. It's a compliance car, they need it to comply with their £35k promise.

Also by making it off-menu it gives them an opportunity to pressure-sell you into a more expensive model. I imagine the actual number they are selling is very small.

That's not the definition of "compliance car."

That's your definition for a sales & marketing tactic aka a loss leader.